FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – Two early goals in the first half both teams followed by 91 minutes of scoreless play led to a 1-1 draw for the FGCU women's soccer team against Northern Arizona at the NAU Tournament Friday night.
The Eagles move to 5-1-2 on the season, while Northern Arizona moves to 1-5-2. The draw stretches FGCU's unbeaten streak to six games (4-0-2). The Eagles were No. 49 in this weekend's TopDrawerSoccer.com Tournament 64 rankings.
Freshman Shea Rhoney (Lithia, Fla./Newsome HS) got the Eagles on the board first when junior Kayley Clay (Cape Coral, Fla./Lynn) led Rhoney with a pass through the NAU defense. Rhoney was able to walk in on a breakaway and score on the first shot of the game in the 13th minute. Rhoney now leads the team with 10 points and four goals on the season. The assist was Clay's fifth on the year and ties her for the team lead with senior Ashley Ciesielczyk (Oregon, Ohio/Clay HS).
The Lumberjacks wasted no time finding the equalizer off the foot Diane Buzzard in the 19th minute. On a free kick, the ball was deflected back to Buzzard 30 yards deep and she was able to beat freshman goalkeeper Brittany Brown (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Athena HS). Brown made four saves on the night through 110 minutes.
Both teams had four shots apiece in the first half, but went into the locker room tied, 1-1. Northern had the 3-1 advantage in shots on goal in the first half.
The Green and Blue came up with the first two scoring opportunities in the second half when Rhoney and sophomore Julia Roddar (Falun, Sweden/Wisconsin) put back-to-back shots on goal, but keeper Lauren Weaver was able to make saves on both. Rhoney had another opportunity in the 65th minute, but Weaver came up with the stop.
The Lumberjacks came back at FGCU with two shots, but none materialized into a goal. Shannen Wacker (Parker, Colo./Ponderosa HS) had a bid in the 77th minute but was stopped by Weaver. The Eagles and NAU exchanged shots throughout the final 20 minutes of regulation. NAU held a slight 11-10 advantage on shots through the end of regulation.
It was a defensive battle throughout both overtimes. The Lumberjack's only managed to get off two shots in overtime when Nicole Sherwin missed wide in the 97th minute and leading-scorer Haley Wingender missed wide in the 103rd minute. NAU did not allow FGCU to take a shot in both overtime periods.
The Eagles will finish the NAU Tournament Sunday, when they play UNLV at 1 p.m. EST. The Rebels opened the NAU Tournament with a 5-1 victory over San Jose State Friday evening.
